Advice for Avoiding Conflict on the Playground and in School

It's a beautiful day in your neighborhood playground. The sun is shining and the birds are singing. What better way for kids to spend hours of fun playing with friends on the playground? However, in many playgrounds, both at school and in the neighborhood, a problem with conflict occurs. This problem can be as simple as two kids wanting to play on the same piece of equipment or as serious as one child bullying another child.

Conflict among children is an age old problem which most of the time can be resolved by themselves. Other times it is helpful for an adult or a teacher to monitor the situation and if needed, step in to help with conflict resolution. In the most extreme situations such as bullying, it is crucial for adults and teachers to act swiftly to correct the problem or risk physical or emotional harm to the victim.

To assist you in dealing with conflicts of various severity, we have enlisted the aid of some experts in the field and have put together the following listing of helpful resources. We hope that this guide helps in dealing with the problem of conflict among kids on the playground.